Ed. Note: Adrienne from blankyclip asked GHM to review her new product, and I have to say I was a little bit sad when I realized my kids were too old to review it. How did they get so big already? So thanks to my friend Anne for reviewing it for us! Take it away, Anne.
I was given the opportunity as the mother of a fresh baby boy to review blankyclip, the “only plush toy that doubles as a loose tension clip, specifically designed to hold blankets onto strollers, bouncy seats, swings, etc.” I figured why not, as I had only recently realized that I misplaced my favorite Little Giraffe blanket and figured that it most likely fell off of my stroller or carseat. Before the clips came in the mail I checked out the website and while I thought they were cute and smart and seemed to be useful, honestly my first thought was, can I picture myself using these? Like, am I too “cool” to have a duckie or lamb or a teddy bear clip hanging off of my gear?
Because I am sooo cool.
Have you ever used liquid water color paint? I know that liquid water sounds like an oxymoron, but this stuff is more like water than paint. A little goes a long way, and you can even dilute it to make it last even longer. Sy’s art teacher busted this stuff out the other day and the kids geeked out. She diluted the (very bright) paint, and then gave them those little bingo marker bottles as well as eye droppers. We got to play with it on a color diffusing paper (it has a higher cotton count so it diffuses the liquid beautifully) and the paintings turn out more like tie-dyed shirts than water color. They are so nifty! We have ours hanging in the window and they look like little stained glass masterpieces.
I highly recommend this for your budding artist. P.S., most of the links above are to Discount School Supply, the online purveyor of pretty much every art item you could ever think of for your little one. Sy’s art teacher gets her supplies there; I have never purchased from them but I do trust her opinion! She said that she has a harder time finding the color diffusing paper in regular sheets, as a lot of places only sell them in pre-cut shapes these days.
Check out this groovy tube of five containers of eco modeling dough from Eco Kids - handmade in the USA with 100% plant-based coloring. This safe modeling dough contains no chemicals, no artificial dyes and no heavy metals. It is safe enough to eat but not tasty so kids won’t try again!
Each 4 oz container is made from 100% post consumer recycled plastic and the tube is made from 100% post consumer waste. This dough doesn’t dry out like many name brands. If left out overnight, just add a few drops of olive oil and it comes right back! Bonus: you can compost it when you are done! Comes in green, yellow, orange, pink, and blue. You can add a bamboo rolling pin for just four more bucks. Suggested age: 18 months+
I like that the sellers, peek a green, even give us a list of ingredients: flour, salt, cream of tartar, vitamen E oil, organic rosemary oil, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, citric acid and fruit, plant and vegetable extracts from beets, spinach, paprika, carrots, purple sweet potato, red cabbage, blueberries and tomatoes.
Happy Eco-Shopping!
Santa only brings one gift per kid in our house, and he’s giving Baby G (and by default, his big sister) a big ol’ cardboard house. Imagination Box Co. makes groovy box houses that your little critters can gleefully deface with markers, crayons, paint, glitter, you name it. It ships flat, comes with a set of water colors and is only $24.95. You can order an extra set of paints for two bucks! Shipping is between about $8.00 and $20.00, depending on how fast you need it. Christmas is fast approaching, but Hanukkah starts on Friday. Giddyup!
I wanted to write a top ten for Picky Eater Tips but realized that even though I’m on my second picky eater, I only have two great tips. So hey, um, readers? Feel free to fill in the other eight.
1) My four year old is a pretty adventurous eater, but has a tough time with new textures or sensations. I realized after many an uneaten packed school lunch returned that she just can’t fathom the idea of picking up a piece of cold, cut fruit. Slimy! Slippery! Cold! So now I cut it up and send it with a toothpick. I stab the first piece so that she doesn’t have to get her finger slimy trying to get the first one. Works like a charm. The fruit container now always comes home empty.
2) My 13 month old pretty much says no to food. Not that into it. Not that concerned with breast-feeding either. I am not sure what he runs on, but whatever it is, it keeps him RUNNING. He has always shunned jarred food and just about anything that comes in a sippy cup or bottle. One thing he does like is little alphabet pasta with broccoli Not exactly a wide variety, but it is a constant. To add a little extra, if I dip the spoon into a jar of baby food and then into the pasta, he’ll eat it. It’s only a few bites at a time, but at least he gets something other than broccoli into his little system that way. Bonus: G’s big sis LOVES jar food and will polish off just about anything but peas (who can blame her?).
OK, readers. Your turn!
Now that Baby G is a full-fledged walker (Watch out lamps!), he has his hands free for all the multi-tasking a newly minted ambulator can handle. His all-time favorite clutchables are his sister’s rain boots (nice little hooks to hold on to), but since jams all kinds of treasures inside, they are a bit heavy to carry around. I was about to recycle a liter-sized water bottle the other day and decided to channel my preschool days and made him a nice new shaker instead. I dried it out, threw some uncooked beans in, put the lid on, taped it over with some very strong, clear packing tape and that was that. Now he wobbles, shakes and rattles his way through the living room at an alarming speed. One year olds are awfully cute.
My two-year-old nephew is phenomenon. When I say phenomenon, I mean this little hard-headed barely-twenty-pounder can survive potential catastrophes like no other. Sure, he lands face down on the ground from time to time. Sure, he cries. But both the prostrating and crying are weapons he uses at will. He doesn’t cry from pain; he protests injustice.
He is a survivor. There is a great photo of the little guy leaping joyously off a picnic table. He lived. Dude, he dusted himself off and maybe even tried to talk a four-year-old into trying it. He’s That Guy. He drives his mom a little nuts.
Plus, he has a six-year-old brother he thinks he rivals. So his mama (errr…the Easter Bunny, that is) was smart to buy him his very own remote-controlled car, and an indestructible one at that.
Baby G was not a fan of the small infant tub we had. Sy loved it when she was wee, he loathed it. Cried like a baby every time we put him in it. Turns out he was incensed that he had to be even slightly reclined, which makes sense since the kid has been sitting up since he was four months old. There are things to SEE out there, people. Mainly things like a big sister, whom he tracks like a border collie.
When I finally realized what the problem was, I pulled Sy’s old Primo EuroBath tub out and it’s been bathing bliss ever since.
I don’t know about you, but my favorite toys EVER were the old school Fisher-Price Little People toys. (Not to sound like a hater, but the new ones are weak. In the little house set we had (and have since sold), the dad is on the phone. What’s up with that? Put the phone down and hang out with your kid. Talk about pigeon-holing the imagination.) My mom saved all of them and that’s all Sy plays with when we go to her house. It’s all I play with when we go to her house. The town with the little mail truck and plastic letters that go through the mail slots is my favorite. Although I am a big fan of the airport. And the parking garage. I could go on…
Anyway, Fisher-Price busted some cool moves and made some new sets to look like the old school ones. The scale is a big larger, but it definitely has the same feel. And they are only $18.00. Way cheaper than the old ones are on Ebay. Anyone have them yet? They have the fold up school and barn. I wonder if they’ll put out more. I hope so!
Ed. Note: Today’s review written by Ashli, mom to two year old B. Thanks, Ash!
I’m a sucker. It was December, and I was trying to divert my toddlers attention from the fact that I was buying her a big ol’ Fisher Price farm. So as we cruised the aisle at Target, I looked for a way to distract her so she wouldn’t notice the box the size of a small Volkswagen going into the bottom of the stroller. And my eyes landed upon this - the Little Tikes PopTunes Melody Bead.
I put it in her lap and took advantage of the “try me!” button. The piano keys lit up! It played songs! She seemed enthralled. I added it to the bottom of the stroller and on Christmas Day it officially became unwrapped and part of the toy entourage.
Any one year old I know will be your best friend for life if you give them wheels, anything with wheels. Once those wee ones can locomote in a homosapien sort of way, they are thrilled with rolling on down the hall with as many accoutrements as they can handle. While I was getting Baby G’s room ready, I pulled out all of Sy’s old toys and came across a favorite wheeled wonder that Sy was given at birth. I had put this wooden push toy away when she was probably about two and realize now I never should have done that! She was thrilled to see this old friend and has played with it almost daily for the past four months.
Here’s a re-post about one of our best purchases to date. Two years later and this is still a toy we play with constantly. It doesn’t cause as many fights as it used to, but it is has been a favorite all the same. Sy drags it up and down the stairs for various games throughout the week.
We’ve had the Little Tikes Shopping Cart for about a year now and it still causes massive fights when there is more than one two year old in the room. I see this as a successful purchase. The little red cart has room for a lovie in the seat basket and lots of groceries in the main compartment. Sy and her pals love to pretend to go shopping, or just roam the house with the cart and stock pile whatever they can find. After play group is here, I often find the cart shoved in the corner of my dining room overflowing with myriad random toys, placemats and other unimportant items like my car keys.
The cart has been known to cause massive strife during playtime. I often think I should have an army of them waiting on the deck for play group to avoid the chaos and chorus of “MY TURN” that erupts as soon as someone under three feet tall grabs hold of the thing. But then I roll my eyes, roll up my mothering sleeves and explain for the 412th time that sharing is, in fact, a good thing.
This cart is by no means a showcase of modern toy design, rather it’s a cheerful, bulky mass of colorful plastic. But its sturdy constitution serves its purpose. It allows Sy to shop, roll with her lovies or take it for a spin around the block without toppling over. It also cleans up really well so when she and her pals are pitching it all of two feet off the back deck into the dirt, it is no worse for wear. We’ve clocked miles worth of afternoon walks with this bad boy and the only thing to show for it are some slightly scratched up wheels. I hose it down from time to time and that’s about as far as my maintenance plan goes.
Move over Snack Trap, there’s a new spill resistant infant and toddler snacking cup that is both BPA and phthalate-free and manufactured in the good old United States of America; Sonoma, California to be specific in town. Invented by a grandfather of six and manufactured by a machine he built, the Munchie Mug is committed to child safety and parent convenience.
The Munchie Mug when dropped or turned upside down does not spill any little snacking treasures inside out onto the carpet, couch, backseat of the car, grocery store floor, etc. It is made of 100% recyclable polypropylene #5 and all FDA food-grade approved materials. The Munchie Mug is dishwasher safe and baby safe. The soft fabric enclosure overlaps to keep snacks in, and it is soft enough to not irritate little hands trying to get snacks out.
OK. Sounds good, right? But let’s get down to brass tacks - did my girl like it?
Dear Learning Puppy,
I have some bad news for you. I think it’s time for you to move out. No, you are not going to be shoved in the back of the toy closet (again) only to be resurrected by Sy in a couple of months. I can’t take the break-up/make-up routine anymore! It’s more serious than that. I think it’s time you move to the consignment shop at the foot of the hill, because Puppy, it’s over. Do you hear me? O-V-E-R. I no longer want to sing and play games with you. I don’t want to hug you. I’m tired of hearing about your YELLOW FOOT! I just want you and your blinking dog bone collar out of my home forever.
Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had some good times together. I’ll never forget the time I gently tapped your nose and you said to me, “RED NOSE!” I felt like you really meant what you said. But as the years have passed, your once-charming ways have become one dimensional, almost superficial. I mean, how deep can you be when you are only surface washable?
My aunt, my father’s only sister, unmarried and without children, wound up with five nieces and nephews, and is currently Great Auntie to six (going on seven) grand nieces and nephews. Among her many cool attributes, Auntie C has distinguished herself as a very creative and personalized gift giver. She’s the one who ordered us the home delivery subscription of organic fruits, vegetables, and flowers after our first daughter was born. She has an uncanny ability to pick out books that match each relative’s interests and developmental stage. In turn, she asks only that we make a donation to a worthy organization and let her know all about it.
Last Christmas, Aunt C gave the parents of small children gift certificates to Maple Landmark Woodcraft, a folksy company that makes handmade wooden toys of the traditional variety.
